Horizons: Horizons Developer's Diary - Alchemy!

The first step in bringing Alchemy to Horizons was to design the concepts behind what function it would serve within the game. A lot of fantasy games use Alchemy in different ways, both broad and narrow in scope. For Horizons, Alchemy will be relatively broad in scope, meaning that there will be a variety of uses potions will have in the game world. Alchemy will mirror some spell effects, though the potions in general shouldn't be completely equitable to what someone can do with a spell. There will be some things, however, that potions will do that spells necessarily won't. This doesn't mean, however, that they can't do those things. With the way we have our systems set up, the predominant differences between spells, special abilities, potions, and even food, are all based on content choices. All the information is related in our database, and it is up to us as designers to create a niche for each part so that it might stand on its own. For Alchemy, you'll see potions do that with lesser versions of spell effects, as well as bending game constraints we place on the system.

Once I designed the concepts of what I wanted Alchemy to do within the game world, my next step was to work with Adrian LaVallee, one of our programmers, in developing what event information we could associate with the use of a potion. "Event information" is the ignore-the-man-behind-the-curtain way of saying what a potion does when a player uses it. When a player uses a potion, the potion will reference pre-defined behaviors we have stored in the database. Most of the time, each of these behaviors is exclusive to the item it is associated with. We're not limited by this, however; it is very possible to create an event, and then associate it to numerous items and concepts. Each time one of these things, whether they be a spell, item, or an ability, they would do the same thing. Anyway, there were some new concepts that I wanted to promote within Alchemy, and Adrian was able to generate general event information entries that I can use later on to make specific events to associate with potions.

The next step in bringing Alchemy to life was to begin the process of making the components that would be used as resources in Alchemy formulas. I had to remain ever cognizant of the fact that for every new resource I created, it was likely that a new node would need to be made for it. At this stage of the game, requesting new assets to be made isn't something I wanted to get into a habit of doing; we already have many, many varied assets being used as resource nodes within the world, so I made a conscious effort to create duplicitous use out of them. For example, a tree not only can give you wood if you chop it down, but it is also possible to extract bark and sap from the tree as well. The use of bark and sap essentially a bonus for me; it didn't require the generation of new node assets, instead relying on existing ones we had. Furthermore, we are able to allow a player to gather resources like bark and sap from a tree without removing the node from the world. Such an act would be reserved for the player who decides to cut it down for the wood it has. Over the course of time, sap and bark will regenerate on the tree. So, if the tree is never cut down, it is possible to come back to the tree after a certain period of time and harvest freshly made sap and bark from it.

I did, however, get some new assets to use for Alchemy, thanks to the hard-working artists and world developers here at AE. (Shout out to Tyler in the Art Dept., and to Jeremy, Anthony, Migo, and Joe in World Development - keep it real, yo.) In getting Alchemy from the notepad to the monitor screen, I needed new machines and a tool set dedicated to Alchemy. We're using the mortar and pestle combination as the tool an Alchemist will use to create potions. Tyler created visible geometry in the form of the mortar and pestle that the player wields in his or her right hand, and it will be shaded and tinted according to what kind of stone it is made out of. The World Devs made some new machines for players to interact with when working with their Alchemy formulas. For example, a player will be able to grind down various metals and stones using a millstone, while the player will actually make potions using a very cool looking cauldron. Along the way, some auxiliary assets were made to support Alchemy as well. For example, Alchemy currently requires the use of a glass potion bottle. In order to make a glass potion bottle, one needs to use the Earthencraft skill (a combination of Glassblowing and Pottery) and make some up. As a result of this, we now have glassblowing rods (the tool for blowing glass), sand deposits (sand is refined into glass nodules), and casting boxes (the machine used for glassblowing). Several other assets were made along the way as well - it all ties together as a skill like this is brought to virtual life within the game world.

Finally, with all the pieces in place, I was able to sit down and start making potions. I created the formula that they would use, and started linking resources, tools, machines, and finished products together. I started extrapolating the formula to incorporate the more complex and more advanced versions of the potions I made. We've really only just started creating various potions, but the numbers of different potions we already have is close to a hundred. It is my goal to flesh out the system so that our Beta testers will have a varied set of potions to test while I move on to one of the other projects I need to attend to for trade skills. While I don't want to give a lot away, all I will say is that I hope you like your MEAT PIES extra flaky and juicy. Mmmmmmmmmmmmeat! Anyway, that'll do it for this diary... thank you for your interest and support of Horizons. I hope to see you in the Beta soon!